A Dozen Winthrop Baseball Players And Two Coaches Named To Big South All-Decade Teams

ROCK HILL, SC—A dozen former Winthrop baseball standouts along with head coaches Horace Turbeville and Joe Hudak have been recognized by the Big South Conference as members of the first-ever All-Decade Teams which are being honored as part of the league’s 30th Anniversary celebration.

The announcement of the baseball All-Decade Teams concludes the anniversary celebration. As was the case in the selection of each of the All-Decade Teams this past year, a voting panel of Big South administrators along with fan voting, which comprised 20 percent of the overall total, determined the final vote. The next All-Decade Teams will comprise the years of 2010-2019.

Three Winthrop honorees competed during the 1986-89 Decade. They include pitcher Waine Shipman (1983-86), an All-Big South performer who is tied for third on the Winthrop career wins list with 24, Winthrop Hall of Fame member Scott Goins (1985-87), who was the 1987 Big South Player of the Year and is Winthrop’s career hitting leader with a .428 average, and outfielder Jeff Dodig (1985-87), an All-Conference selection and 1995 Big South Tournament co-MVP Coach, who ranks second on the Winthrop career batting list with a .413 average. Turbeville, who started the Winthrop baseball program in 1980, was voted Coach of the Decade. He guided the Eagles for 12 years, including the last seven in the Big South Conference. Turbeville’s record during his four Big South years of that decade was 108-51 while overall his Winthrop record stood at 322-157.

Three Eagles were voted to the 1990-1999 All-Decade Team. They include former All-American pitcher and Winthrop and Big South Hall of Fame member Bryan Link (1992-95), who was the 1995 Big South Player of the Year and ranks second on the Winthrop career wins list with 27, outfielder Joe Colameco (1995-98), a three-time All-Big South selection who is tied for ninth on the Winthrop career home run list with 31, and first baseman Jeremy Keller (1993-96), the 1996 Big South Player of the Year who ranks in the Winthrop top 10 career list for doubles, triples, home runs and runs batted in. Coach Hudak, who took over the Winthrop head coaching duties in 1992, was voted Coach of the Decade. He led Winthrop to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1995 and 1999, and compiled a 272-189 record during the decade.

The 2000-2009 All-Decade Team includes six players. They are Winthrop and Big South Hall of Famer Jason Colson, the 2001 Big South Player of the Year, who holds the Winthrop career home run record with 53 and RBI mark with 216, All-American pitcher Heath Rollins (2005-06), who was a two-time All-Conference performer and the 2006 Big South Player of the Year, and is tied for third on the Winthrop career wins list with 24, All-American pitcher and current Miami Marlins hurler Kevin Slowey (2003-05), a two-time All-Conference selection and the winningest pitcher in Winthrop history with 29 victories, All-American outfielder Daniel Carte (2003-05), a three-time All-BSC selection and 2003 Rookie of the Year, who is tied for third on the Winthrop career home run list with 42, All-American outfielder Jacob Dempsey (2003-06), a three-time All-BSC selection, who ranks second in Winthrop career RBI with 209 and is tied with Carte for third on the HR list, and shortstop Matt Repec (2003-06), a three-time All-BSC selection, who is tied with Colson for career games played and ranks third in career RBI with 199.

Below are the All-Decade Teams for Baseball for the years 1986-89, 1990-99 and 2000-09. Baseball became a Conference sport in 1986, and each team features six pitchers, five outfielders, six infielders, one catcher, one utility player, one designated hitter and one head coach. In case of ties, additional honorees are included. Winthrop honorees are in Bold.

Baseball All-Decade Team candidates were determined based on being at least one of the following: 1) Was a multiple All-Conference honoree at one or more position; 2) Was named an All-American; 3) Is a member of the Big South Conference Hall of Fame; 4) Student-athletes must have been a college graduate or left their respective institution in good academic standing; and 5) Won a Conference Championship as a coach and/or was voted Conference Coach of the Year; and 6) Every All-Conference honoree and Tournament MVP from 1986-89 was included in the candidate pool for the 1986-89 All-Decade Team. Candidates that participated in two different decades were placed in a specific decade based on consultation from member institutions. Candidates were also listed under their primary position during their careers. Member institutions had final determination in regards to inclusion of student-athletes and coaches.